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Dissertation Information for Robert K. Dikeman

NAME:
- Robert K. Dikeman
- (Alias) Robert Kenneth Dikeman

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1974)

ADVISORS:
- William Goffman

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Jesse H. Shera
- Conrad H. Rawski
- Raymond Nelson

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: On the relationship between the epidemic theory and the Bradford law of dispersion

Abstract: Bradford's law of dispersion and the epidemic theory are two bibliographic methods which have been used productively to study subject literatures. Bradford's law has been used to establish structural relationships for the periodicals of a subject literature. The epidemic theory has been previously applied to author data to trace the growth or decline of a subject literature. To date no study has attempted to compare the results of these two bibliometric techniques on the same subject literature.

The purpose of this study is to investigate any existing relationships between the epidemic theory and the Bradford distribution for the diachronic study of the symbolic logic subject literature. The bibliographic data was gathered from (1) A Bibliography of Symbolic Logic and Additions and Corrections to "A Bibliography of Symbolic Logic" by Alonse Church (2) the "Reviews" section of the Journal of Symbolic Logic for the time period 1841-1960. The periodical data was ranked by productivity by year, tabulated and analyzed using both the Bradford law of dispersion and the epidemic theory.

By the study of the diachronic growth of a subject literature, a number of interesting relationships can be explored. The nearly identical nature of the epidemic curves based on periodical and author data indicates the direct interaction between the author and the periodicals in the epidemic analysis. The usefulness of the epidemic theory in the analysis of the periodical structure of a subject literature, the stability of each recurring epidemic cycle and the changing environmental conditions of each epidemic cycle are all demonstrated. Thus, this diachronic study of this subject literature has conclusively shown the interrelationship of the Bradford distribution and the epidemic theory. Various phases of the epidemic cycle, the cumulative Bradford distributions, period studies of the Bradford distribution, and the internal structure of a subject literature were also studied.

One immediate benefit of this study is to illustrate, by example, how periodical structure of a subject literature may be analyzed. The use of such an analysis would be an invaluable aid in periodical acquisitions for a research library. This study also provides the first observational evidence to support the mathematical model for information transfer that has been derived from the epidemic studies of the disease, schistosomiasis, and finally, the current dilemma of rapidly expanding subject literatures will only be solved through an understanding of the interrelationships of the structural properties of subject literatures. Any attempts to modify the current scientific literature system without an understanding of these properties may result in its collapse.

MPACT Scores for Robert K. Dikeman

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-07 13:48:34

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